Ironcrazy

Sara, Joe, and I took a bike ride down to the Monona Terrace on Sunday, September 11th to see the Ironman racers come in from their 112 mile bike ride and start out on their full marathon. They started the morning off with a nice, easy 2.4 mile swim in Lake Monona in front of the Monona Terrace. Biking there made us feel semi-deserving or at least less guilty watching mega-athletes do this ultimate triathalon in the blazing sun. Joe and I had just finished off a fun weekend with Don and Anne in Madison. Next year, perhaps I'll get up to see the beginning of the swimming leg of the race--2000 people starting off a race at once in the water...it's supposed to be amazing to see. However, this year we spent the early morning eating bacon and cinnamon-apple kringle from Lane's Bakery before sending Don and Anne off on their drive back to Michigan. I think the winner of the men's race finished in around 9 hours? That's a full days work, unpaid lunch, plus overtime!

Unfortunately, there was not a cloud in the sky for the competitors. It was bad enough while on the city bike trails going to and from downtown, let alone being one of the athletes biking out into the country and then taking a couple of LONG laps around areas in Madison on hot asphalt. Absolutely amazing. Needless to say, many of the atheletes were unable to complete the race this year and some ended up in the hospital. It was also fun to see how well coordinated the volunteers were in getting the athletes through the staging areas and back out. Hundreds of volunteers were trained to help during the event. We took a walk down around the Capitol and to State St. to see some of the racers (plus Sara convinced us to stop in for some Babcock icecream).

The rest of the weekend was fun too. We spent my birthday on that Friday hanging out at our house with Joe's folks and then having a fantastic meal at Quivey's Grove (yummy Wisconsin fare...not beer & brats like some might think). The next day, we took Don and Anne down to State St and spent a couple of hours at the Farmers Market around the Capitol Square, got them some yummy hot & spicy cheese bread from Stella's, introduced them to cheese curds (squeaky, of course), tried some fantastic corn on the cob (raw), found some cranberry-flower honey, and also some anisette biscotti. Anne and I also learned about the difference between mums and asters from a very friendly flower vendor. I took them on a semi-grand tour of the Capitol building and then Monona Terrace (which was already over run with vendors and competitors for the following day's Ironman). We then traveled up State St, relaxed on the terrace for a bit, and were ready to head back when Don's motorized scooter began to lose its juice. Luckily, we were rescued by my parents Isuzu truck. The whole gang, including Sara & Luna met at our place for a nice, little barbecue. A birthday weekend well spent.